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Sustainability is a key element in the $14.4 million education center project at the Oregon Zoo.

“This new facility will meet that goal to inspire conservation and action,” said Heidi Rahn, the zoo’s bond program director.

The project is among those being paid for via a $125 million bond passed by voters in 2008. Opsis Architecture, in partnership with Seattle-based Jones & Jones Architects, is designing the facility; Fortis Construction is the construction manager-general contractor. A Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold rating is being targeted for the center.

The education center will include interactive kiosks, an insect and butterfly habitat, and areas for kids’ programs and regional resources, said Alec Holser, a principal partner at Opsis.

“More importantly, it will be a place where people can learn about sustainability and things like climate change and how human behavior affects wildlife habitat and vice versa,” he said.

The interactive kiosks and other educational components will resemble those at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, Fortis Construction President Jim Kilpatrick said. Fortis will participate in a collaborative design process with the architectural firms and regional nonprofit agencies, he said.

The biggest construction challenge for the project, Kilpatrick said, will be dealing with complicated logistics and public access points.

“We probably can build (the center) faster than it takes to design,” he said. “We will spend a fair amount of time confirming the program and doing a conceptual design. Then, we will make sure everything looks like what they want.”

Bond projects, including Elephant Lands now being built by Lease Crutcher Lewis, are being spread out through 2020 so that the zoo can remain open while work takes place, Rahn said. A polar bear habitat project is slated to move ahead in 2015, and design work for primate and rhino habitats is set to begin in 2017, she said.